A Memoir From the Trenches

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Weekend Update

Man, I took a nap after church today, and I woke up on the wrong side of life. Grump city. No one come near me. When Beanie woke me up, I was all disoriented and thought it was Monday morning and the clocks were wrong and we had overslept and were late for school. Grrrr.

Abby has finally figured out how to go DOWN the stairs. She mastered “UP” a long time ago, but the _down_ system has stymied her for quite a while. Now I have to be even more aware of where she is…

DH and I went out to dinner on Friday to celebrate our anniversary. Like, real, fancy, dim-candle-lit restaurant. Very, very schee-schee. We do that so seldom, I had forgotten how much fun it is to get gussied up, put on some heels and feel pretty for the night. Dinner was easily 2-3 hours and I won’t even tell you what we spent- although it’s amazing how much less you spend when you don’t have a somalier bill. I got to wear my fancy new necklace, too- I really wanted to just tie the box around my neck, but that would’ve been a little too trailer-park, ya think?

Went apple-picking this weekend. One of the perks of living in the Northwest… acres and acres of orchards and things to pick. The kids had a ball, and learned the difference between Jonagold, Gala, Macintosh and Pippin- ripe this week. Next week the Golden’s are due to ripen. The boys pulled a handcart around the orchard, Beanie climbed to the tippy-top of a three-legged orchard ladder, and we left with two bushels of apples, three pumpkins and two gallons of fresh pressed cider. Mmmmmmm. I love fall.

We’re making applesauce this week. And DH has requested a pie. Oh, and we’re dipping caramel apples too. (Julie, call me if you got that water canner- I’ll send you a check!)

I should hear from the school on Monday regarding the preposterous spelling words. I’ll keep you updated.

I’ve been called to teach the Valliant 12 girls in our ward (congregation). Haven’t been in Primary (kids Sunday school at our church) for about 4 years, so I’m due. I like this group of girls, so now I just have to get my act together enough to teach every Sunday. Ought to make Sunday morning even more fun, eh?

DH is doing the dishes and cleaning the kitchen right now. Either he felt like being nice, or he just got sick of not being able to find a fork to eat his ice cream with- wither way, I’m good. Speaking of DH, other day a friend of mine was over and DH noticed Abby had stinky pants, picked her up and went to change her. My friend interupted me and asked me if DH had just volunterily changed a diaper. Huh? Yeah, why? Aparently, this is unheard of in their house. I just assumed most dad’s did diaper duty nowdays- am I wrong? Is DH more cutting edge than I thought? What about in your house? Here, DH changes diapers daily- if I’m otherwise engaged, he just does it. Same with dishes, laundry and baths…

Jeffrey got the coolest birthday box from Crazy Chicken Annie. When he opened the box, the entire thing was full of crumpled up one-dollar bills. Mixed in were Koosh balls, coral, seashells, crystal clusters, acorns, leaves and several really cool feathers from her birds. Jeff carried the box around for two days, even taking the whole thing with us to Target to spend his loot. He managed three boxes of Lego with all those One’s. This is a birthday gift he won’t forget.

You’ll be a GREAT primary teacher! I’m excited for you. I like teaching primary because you get to have such personal interaction with the kids you teach, and actually TEACH them things they may not already know. It’s a cool, awesome responsibility/calling

Mr Renn only changes diapers (when I’m around) if I ask him to. So I’d say you scored big time.

I’m incredibly jealous of your fun anniversary dinner out. And also your pretty blue box. Not to mention the necklace that came in it.

That’s funny about changing diapers. My DH does it all the time. And he was the laundry man for the first 2.5 years of our marriage cuz I was never home. Dishes and baths are certainly another matter. . . .

oh yeah. DH does diapers, dishes, baths. He doesn’t do laundry, but then, he’s not allowed. He ruins stuff. I think he did it on purpose.

I teach the 6 year olds in my ward. It’s way fun, and they’re all girls, so it’s a very quiet little class.

I want a fancy dinner out!!! Come here and babysit for me, k? I’ll trade off so you can go the next night out…..come on….when was the last time you saw a real live coyote walking through the neighborhood? You know you want to, the weather’s GOR-GEOUS!!!

I miss the fresh cider! SO goooood! And it freezes really well too…
My BIL has only changed a grand total of 4 diapers in the last 4 years. My Hubby was an awesome diaper changer. I didn’t have to ask. He just did it. He would even get up in the middle of the night and change them when they were babies.

Sounds like a fun weekend! Minus the nasty wake up positioning. Yeah, J changes diapers just fine. Never been an issue here, although I don’t think it would be if he didn’t. To each their own, but it never bothers me that he doesn’t do house stuff…I don’t go to his work and deal with his boss (Thank Heavens) and he never cares if I get behind. Doesn’t even mention it. The time will come where my workload lessens, but his will always stay the same and probably get heavier. Hope you enjoy the new calling!

I teach the oldest Valiant girls. It’s the best calling in primary, next to the nursery. They can be hard, though—mine just want to jabber and not pay attention. I have to be creative in presenting the lesson each week. Something that will get them involved. Most of the suggestions in the manual are way below their level. I’ve had days where I’m struggling and struggling to get them to pay attention. I finally get one of them to answer a question, and she rattles off the entire point of the lesson in two sentences. They all know everything already.

My girls *love* to act out stuff, so I try to do that a lot. But you’re not supposed to have anyone portray Christ except in a nativity scene, so it’s been hard, because we’re studying the New Testament. We are finally past the gospels, now. Another good tactic is the news reporter interviews. Write up some questions. Last time we did this, they all wanted to be the reporter, not that interviewee, so they all interviewed me. It was perfect—I presented all the lesson material via them asking me questions.

Last Sunday, I made up a quiz for the lesson, and it kept them interested the whole time. Unfortunately we also whizzed through it rather fast.

My guy does diapers, dishes, vacuuming, the works. The only thing he doesn’t do is clean the bathrooms and clean out the fridge. He doesn’t do laundry a lot because, like The Wiz’s guy, he ruins stuff. But on everything else, he’s good to go.

Puh-lease, like you know anything about trailer parks…I’M the expert on that around here.
We bought some Honey Crisp apples today that were as big as the baby’s head, no foolin. Town fair this weekend and I’m hoping candy apples will be in attendance. Wanna come?
Oh yes, and remind Crazy Chicken Annie that my birthday is next month and I expect something whimsical and fun as only she can do…. ;)
Love ya!

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about.me

Dandelion Mama

I make stuff. I'm a writer, grad-student, blogger, new wife, mother of three, step-mom to two, artist and creative whirlwind. I love fine cheese, the scent of old books, and cooking from Julia Child and Ottolenghi cookbooks.